In a controlled environment, such as within a prison or jail facility, controlling access, information, interaction, and/or transactions is often of particular interest. In a prison facility in particular, safety and security is of paramount importance and, therefore, the number one job of the personnel thereof is to effectively implement controls with respect to the residents (inmates) thereof. However, such controlled environments often provide an environment much like a small city in which a number of individuals work and live, thus requiring various goods and/or services associated with civilized society. Accordingly, various exchanges of information, money, goods, etcetera may be performed in association with individuals of a controlled environment, both within the controlled environment and external thereto. For example, an inmate residing in a prison facility may be allowed to place phone calls to friends and family outside of the prison facility. Likewise, an inmate may be allowed to purchase commissary items, such as through use of a prepaid account funded by friends and family, such as when visiting the prison facility or by mailing checks or money orders on behalf of an inmate. An inmate may also be provided medical services, such as dispensing of prescription medications.
Administering the aforementioned exchanges of information, money, goods, etcetera typically requires the time and efforts of the staff of the controlled environment facility and/or individuals associated with various service providers thereto. For example, prison and/or commissary personnel may be required to accept payments directly from visitors or receive mail including payments, identify the individual resident for which the funds are intended, access an account associated with the individual resident, and increment the balance thereof. Additionally, prison and/or commissary personnel may be required to distribute and collect commissary order forms to/from inmates as well as deliver commissary items to inmates. Such personnel may additionally or alternatively be called upon repeatedly to perform such tasks as respond to balance inquiries, explain account deductions/credits, and/or the like. Each such task requires time away from prison personnel's primary tasks associated with the operation of the controlled environment facility and/or increases the costs associated with a service provider serving that population. Moreover, such tasks as accomplished today are typically largely paper based and require appreciable manual processing, thereby further aggravating the directing of personnel's attention away from tasks more primary to the operation of the controlled environment facility and further adding to the costs. FIG. 4 illustrates a commissary process flow according to a typical implementation today.
In addition to issues with respect to taking time and attention away from tasks of primary importance, the aforementioned exchanges may present safety and other issues. For example, increased contact between prison personnel and inmates can increase the danger to the prison personnel, thus interaction associated with distributing and collecting commissary orders may actually present increased danger to prison personnel. Likewise, interaction in providing commissary services can present danger to individuals, such as third party service providers, as well. Additionally, collection of monies by prison personnel for deposit in inmate accounts can expose such personnel to claims of theft of such monies.
The aforementioned exchanges also often do not result in ideal situations with respect to businesses and/or individuals associated with controlled environment facilities. For example, companies providing commissary items to a prison typically must print, distribute, collect, and process a large number of paper order sheets in order to conduct transactions with inmates. If a price change is to be made or items are to be added/deleted from the offering, old forms are discarded and new forms printed and distributed, which results not only in costly waste but also increases the time required in implementing such a change.
Often the aforementioned paper sheets allow individuals to simply write in desired items, thereby requiring personnel at the commissary provider to manually process orders. Even where some level of automation is implemented, such as by using machine readable SCANTRON “fill in the bubble” forms, it has been found that a number of such forms, e.g., 2%, do not scan and still require manual processing. Additionally, spoilage associated with such forms has been found to be considerable, often requiring distribution of approximately 4 forms for every 1 form actually resulting in an order for goods/services. Accordingly, inefficiencies exist with respect to the businesses and individuals conducting such exchanges associated with controlled environment facilities.
Moreover, satisfaction with respect to the individuals upon who's behalf such exchanges are conducted, e.g., inmates residing within a prison facility, is often less than optimum. For example, inmates using the aforementioned paper sheets to order commissary items may have no idea whether the items they desire are in stock or even whether they have enough money in their account to purchase any or all of what they desire, until such time as their order is to be delivered and it is partially or wholly unfulfilled. Typically the only way for an individual to obtain an account balance, and thereby know a priori the extent of goods or services which may be purchased, is to make an inquiry to personnel of the controlled environment facility. Often such personnel must look through accounting records, sometimes requiring reconciling past orders, to provide the requested account information, thereby placing further demands upon their time for tasks not related to the primary function of the facility. Often there is no mechanism for inquiring as to the availability of particular goods and services before the individual has submitted the order.
In addition to the above customer satisfaction issues associated with individuals residing within a controlled environment facility, individuals external thereto which conduct exchanges therewith are often less than satisfied with the experience. For example, depositing monies on behalf of a friend or family residing within a controlled environment facility typically requires delivering such monies directly to the controlled environment facility or sending checks or money orders by mail, leaving little flexibility with respect to the forms and timing of payment. Additionally, the sending party is not provided with any confirmation of the monies received.